Hi all! This thread is ESPECIALLY for people like me who are just starting out prepping and trying to be a bit more self-sufficient. We might not have 1,000 gallon propane tanks buried in our backyards; we certainly don’t have a 2 year supply of freeze dried foods and 40 acres on which we can ride out civil unrest.
But we have what we have and every little bit helps — in addition, whatever we have and are counting on having in an emergency, we should TRY OUT NOW and use and rotate on a regular basis.
So, to help regular people like us, let’s inspire each other here. Since (in the US at least) September is National Preparedness Month, I’d like to encourage us all to do a dry run of some area in the next week. Say, Tuesday, September 5th through Tuesday September 12th. No advance warning, that would be cheating!
Try one or more of the following, I’ll give you bonus points for doing more! (-:
By the way, I in no way am trying to exclude those who are more advaced preppers than some of us are; it’s just that y’all can be a little bit intimidating in how prepared you are! My measly little preparations seem very little in comparison; I am thinking others might be feeling the same and want to provide a place for those just starting out to encourage each other! (-:
Average Concerned Mom – at 08:43
Hey, if I can do it with a famiy of 7 then anyone can do it. <grin>
I’ve actually just completed my next montly menu prior to our big shopping trip and it again includes mostly prep-style meals. Its heavy on rice and homemade breads/biscuits and canned meats. One, I will start some major rotation of my bulk items (e.g., rice) and will give me more experience in keeping “food fatigue” down.
I went 3 hours w/o water when the hot water heater broke. That was hard enough. The extra bottled water was good to have, but the toilet flushing was an issue. It did help me work out a plan (in my head) just in case. Buckets in the bathroom, a hole in the backyard.
Hey Kathy — I really admire you for your meal plans! Do I recall — did you try some with stored water/gas stove, or were you just testing out the amount and types of foods the last time you did your trial run?
Ruth — I’m most worried about the ater — as I guess everyone is or should be, it is kind of vital. For my part, this week I’m going to try to have our household go three days with the water off. (Already I know I will cave at just one day, but it is good to have a goal!) I already also know my husband will rebel and insist on being able to take a shower. I might be able to get him to use stored water to flush. I’m curious if I can get the preschooler to use a bucket instead of a regular potty!
I filled up some Aquatainers with water about 3 months ago and am curious how they will taste and if they have leaked, so that will probably be my test run! Hope someone is inspired to join me.
Average Concerned Mom – at 09:19
Just for the heck of it and to keep it in good running order I pull out the Coleman stove every other month. I also have the little box oven that fits on my Coleman and have used it to fix casseroles and bread while we were camping out west so I know that it works well.
I’d like to try some dutch oven cooking here in the backyard but we are having a stretch of daily hard rains … which makes me very glad I have multiple cooking sources planned. Only takes one weather event to cause havoc in a menu. <grin> Cooking in the rain on a Coleman is doable — but just barely. I’m glad we have a screened lanai that I can take the cooking out to in the event of a power outage.
The one thing that I haven’t done too much of is stock charcoal. I’ve got two big bags of charcoal that we’ll use to cook the last of the fresh meat in case of a power outage. The charcoal will be useful for dutch oven cooking as well … but it is a bear to find room for it so I haven’t done as much as I should in that area.
My hope is that the power doesn’t go off right away … that any power outages will not be permanent and that my alternative power and water source plans are enough to get our family from one power outage to another. I have enough water for almost 2 months … and that’s a lotta watta for a family of 7 <grin> … and I can make due in the cooking arena if I run out of traditional fuel. But I really would like to stretch out the water and fuel so that it equals the resources in food, which I have almost 5 months of. My immediate goal is to work up to 9–12 months, but its a lot of work and $$$ trying to get there.
Gosh Kathy, 5 months of water for 7 people IS an astounding amount of water to think about! (-:
I am right now mentally preparing myself to get our family to go 24 hours without running water — I’d rather have it be 2 or 3 days but I am being realistic — and I am almost ready to just bag the whole practice run. Life without running water will truly stink!
But that just tells me it is important to practice it….
Average Concerned Mom – at 11:37
I meant I had 2 months of water and 5+ months of food. If it rained like we’ve been seeing in my area most of the time I’d never worry about water. <grin> I’d fix a cistern up to a down spout and there you go. May yet try and create such a thing. I could get a 50 gallon bucket filled up in no time and then just run the water through a filter.
But right now that is more money than I have to devote to such a project when there are so many other household projects that need completing first. But I do have a 50 gallon barrel and I want to get some of those screens that go over your gutters to keep the leaves out before our leaf drop gets too much heavier around here.
You got me thinking about alternative cooking methods again. Found an explanation on cooking with candles that might work in a pinch for single portions. I have a stockpile of emergency candles that I may set aside just for this purpose.
Let’s face it, if we loose water and/or power for more than a few days, things will not be good. Remember, people may not be availble to fix things right away. We can’t ship in water, because a lot of the country will have the same problem. It will be a disaster. I have a lot of bottled water, but, just to barly survive a few weeks. I hope it doesn’t come to this because I can’t imagine how the country will survive.
Ruth — I agree — the idea of an entire area being without water for more than say a week just totally boggles my mind. I can’t imagine even trying to hold it together — and live an even somewhat normal life — under such circumstances.
Still, I am trying to work with my county government — they have gone to the trouble to ask me to stockpilke 2 weeks worth of water, so I am taking that for what it could mean — they think there is a possibility that we could be without water for up to two weeks… and that can happen for many reasons.
It could be just a water main break that will take longer than usual to get repaired — but it will get repaired, but meanwhile, there will be no running out to the grocery store for bottled water; no moving in with my friends across town who have water, etc.
I am going to try out my plan for no water and see what happens. I did decide today that I will order a “camping potty” because I think my husband will be more willing to use something that is labelled for that purpose than he will just using a bucket. I’m sure he would use a bucket in an emergency, but I want to get everyone in my family used to the idea of a bucket NOW (and then get them used to the idea of a composting toilet later!) (-:
Kathy in FL – at 09:42 The one thing that I haven’t done too much of is stock charcoal. I’ve got two big bags of charcoal that we’ll use to cook the last of the fresh meat in case of a power outage. The charcoal will be useful for dutch oven cooking as well … but it is a bear to find room for it so I haven’t done as much as I should in that area.
Kathy, Do you have a gas grill (other than the Coleman) or a wood stove that you’ll be using for heat/cooking? If so, you might want to consider getting some ceramic briquettes. They are easy to store because they are compact/reusable, and you can use them to cook with a Dutch oven. My one word of advice is to get the kind that are connected by webbing/netting. Before you heat them you can trim them to fit on either side of the lid handle and cut some larger ones to fit under the Dutch oven. That way, when you try to take them out of the heat source, you just grab with (long) tongs, and voila! No hassling trying to fish out individual briquettes.
FYI, we went camping for three days, and I cooked everything in my Dutch oven or on a griddle over a campfire. We never ate so well on a camping trip before! Have fun experimenting!
As for being without water for more than a week, I can only assume you guys who are worried about this live in urban areas. If not, you should be making mental notes about available groundwater sources that you could steal away to and fill up some containers if push comes to shove. It is not an ideal scenario by any stretch of the imagination. You’d be exposing yourself (and, by extension, the fact that you have food, gas, etc.). But it would be better than getting completely dehydrated. That said, you would obviously need to treat the water as if it were contaminated and thoroughly, thoroughly disinfect it. And if there’s any chance that any upstream water treatment plants are discharging, don’t even consider it.
Average Concerned Mom – at 08:43
Great minds think alike I always say. I suggested to DH this weekend that we have a test weekend, now would be a good time cause the weather is nice. I said how about two or three days, he said how about an hour. lol!!! I’m going to show him your post to let him know that it’s important to pratice and try try try out the new stuff. We haven’t even tested our new generator other than to turn it on. We burned up one of our little ones’ several years ago during a storm trying to keep the basement dry. It will also show the kids that they need to know where their flashlights are. Maybe they’ll even clean their rooms with no computer to play!!
I can’t wait to hear our lessons learned after this experiment!
silversage - good luck! Let us know how it goes!
If I had to give something up for 3 days — would it be running water or electricty? Hmmmmmm….
Edna Mode — yes, in my case I live in an urban area; our only source of water is very contaminated and fairly far away (the Anacostia River). I do think about things like digging a well — I am pretty sure we have some kind of a stream under our ground (we live on a hill) but to be honest, my husband already thinks I am freaking out — I have to leave the well idea for another time! But the thought of not having running water has really hit me — how quickly our lives would change if we in urban areas for some reason did not have running water for say three days — and couldn’t go elsewhere easily…. scary thought and makes you not want to live in a city after all….
If going toally without water or electricity is too tough of a test, you can always try out parts of your plans. For instance, use your solar shower bag if you have one to see how it works for you. I found mine to be totally unacceptable and have moved to plan B. You might wash up using a dishpan and a washcloth to see just how little water you can get by with.
Remember that just because the water is off doesn’t mean your toilet can’t be used. Turn the water off and practice saving up “grey” water in a bucket to flush the toilet. See if you can keep from letting any water go down the sink drains for an entire day. Ease into this if going completely off grid is too much. Practice your plans to see what will work and what won’t. Develop the skills now so you won’t have a big learning curve later.
Kathy in FL – at 11:46. Regarding cooking with candles: I have a candle lantern that holds 3 handles. The metal top gets very hot, and the directions say that you can cook on it. This week I put a little aluminum camp cooking pot with a cup of water on the top and boiled water for tea.
I have the Uco Candelier, but there are lots of models and prices available. http://www.rei.com/category/4500586.htm
This method works better than having to hold the thing for 40 minutes (or whatever) over a flame. You could also boil water this way and then pour it into a thermos for thermos cooking.
I ended up wearing heavy suede work gloves to do this after burning my hand on the hot metal. Not a bad burn, but it happened because I wasn’t 100% attentive.
Average Concerned Mom – at 08:43
So, to help regular people like us, let’s inspire each other here.
??????? regular people like us ????? sheesh
I live in a pretty large metropolitan area—a large city surrounded by smaller cities, some of which have a different water source. Recently one of the smaller cities had a boil-water alert due to a test showing bacteria. I didn’t follow the entire story but early on I heard a news report rumor that it might have been a result of someone at a house near where the bad water showed up had done some do-it-yourself-without-a-permit plumbing. This resulted in a boil-water/don’t-use-the-water alert for the small city. Restaurants all had to shut down for 3 days. It was just a minor inconvenience for these folks because they could just drive a few blocks to find restaurants (on the other water system) that were open. Or they had friends/family in the larger city that they could impose on for a few days.
Anyway, people have discussed possible problems with the water supply mostly in the context of lack of chemicals or labor shortages. I just wanted to share about this thing that caused a short-term problem with the water supply here locally. Do you think that during a pandemic people might find it hard to find a qualified plumber to fix their pipes? Unqualified “plumbers” in your city could contaminate your water supply. The scary thing is that during a pandemic we won’t have the luxury of people doing water quality tests down stream all over town. We’ll be lucky if they even do the tests at the water plant.
I have had a few unplanned emergency runs due to power loss and I can’t tell you enough how much we learned. Some older equipment didn’t work and needed to be replaced. Some things were too well hidden and we had a hard time finding them by lamplight, etc. Try to do it for at least two days - perhaps just pick a weekend.
Folks, be careful about mentioning being without power for a weekend…..it’s FOOTBALL season! Nothing would make my husband more resentful than to not have his weekend ballgames. I’d be better off doing without water than power during this season! :-)
Aw, EnoughAlready — I just meant, people who haven’t been at this for years (or so it seems) — compared to the real experts on this list, it seems there are so many who are super prepared for everything; I’m not saying they aren’t regular people too. Or that I’m not extraordinary, even though all I have is a few weeks’ worth of water and one single battery operated radio, which was out of power when I needed it because I never recharged it in an year because I am THAT overwhelemd with life (and with setting up a a pantry of food for 4 for 12 weeks). So to log on here and find people with generators, and hand crank radios and solar generators and all, that’s just a little intimidating to people like me — I thought there might be others out there who were just starting out — just regular folks, not big experts and the planning for preparedness thing! (Makes me feel just regular, well average!) (-:
Oh, gosh, I’m-working-on-it, you are so right — and when people watch football, they often are imbibing in liquid refrehment as well….better rethink this plan… (-:
Average Concerned Mom – at 09:04
Someone who is “super prepared” is a person who has a plan, the equipment to carry it out, and experience using their equipment. No matter how everyday your prep equipment may be, if you can use it to keep your family safe, fed and disease-free then you are completely prepared.
Having a big pile of fancy preps and not knowing if they will work in your situation is the height of folly.
HBB — I agree with you — but for those of us just starting out (i.e. we didn’t even have 1 battery operated radio; or candles, or matches, or even a 2 day supply of food before we started….) there is some initial start-up equipment needed.
We’re the people who run to the store as the rain starts pouring down and wondering “where’s the milk???”
After 6 months of thinking about prepping, this doesn’t describe me any more. But it did describe me. And I’m pretty sure there are others who log onto the fluwikie for flu news, read the discussions amongst people I would consider very ADVANCED preppers, and get a bit intimidated. I just want them to know, don’t be, some of us are at that same level!
No you absolutely don’t need to have a huge pile of expensive preps — in fact, the more I think about it, for long term preps, low tech (think Amish!) seems the way to go! (-:
Average Concerned Mom – at 09:22
That used to describe me also. I remember a power outage that lasted for a day and a half. I had kerosene lamps, but no lamp oil. Thankfully, now I am better prepared for several different types of emergencies.
When we are talking REALLY long term preparedness, low tech is the only way to go. I just don’t want to have to go there!
ACM — you’re a smart lady! And I’m sure there are folks on this site that could list the ‘preps’ they have on one hand! And that may be enough. I hope that all of them will show up here, and feel welcomed by you, and begin to learn if there are other things they might need (they may not need anything else beyond their one hand of basic items), but this thread will surely be a place where they can become educated & decide whether they do or not.
IMHO those of us who have been at this for awhile need to let the newest ones feel free to speak, by not cluttering this thread with our posts of what all we have so we don’t wreck the flow of the thread for those who are just poking around & trying to figure out where to start.
Heck, we more veteran preppers will learn something from just reading this new thread, because we’ll be seeing things from new peoples’ eyes!
Here’s to the new preppers in the house!!!
bump
Bump (and by the way, I used a good suggestion to make sure you can see your meds, and put one of the Brinkman GO-LED mini-lights I bought on a wall hook where I have most of the first-aid/medicines. Might be a lot of other places people would find it useful to pre-position lights of any sort. “Grip-clips” from the hardware store seem useful to be able to store tools/flashlights/headlamps, ect, in handy or out-of-sight spots.)
A few years back DH was on a business trip. DD and I were home alone and we had a huge storm. I have been a prepper for years. I had my kerosun heater going. I put a pot of soup on top. We had water, food etc. It was an ice storm that hit. One thing I didn’t think of…DD was in high school, put the water on top of the kerosun heater before she went to bed so she could wash her hair every morning. Two shampoos and three conditioners. Used up all my indoor storage water in one week. Teenage girls can be strange when it comes to hygine. Now I keep 300 gallons in a different location. I have no teenagers at home anymore but just in case.
Average Concerned Mom
I suppose my point ultimately is most all of us, no matter how long we have been prepping, are regular folk. You probably would be surprsed to walk into my home. Other than the Amish, the LDS, the Daeo’s, etc, most of us probably still feel we have a long way to go. Having said that, it is an uncomfortable “awakening” when you realise what all needs doing to get started. I would take heart in the fact that there are many very respected posters on this site who aren’t really prepping like others. It is overwhelming not only to the beginning prepper, but to the seasoned prepper. I think that is important to understand. When I see people freaking over trying to get so much done… to get caught up… my heart goes out to them. Because I can tell you from where I am sitting, it is still at that point for me… and I have been at this for years. My entire lifestyle is very different than it was over many different periods of my life. By that I mean, early in my marriage we grew everything we ate and canned it… out of necessity. Over time, we have changed our lifestyle out of awareness. I hope this is coming across how I intend it to… and that being… we all take small steps toward change. I know we are facing a very frightening “unkown” impending scenario. However, rather than focus on the fear of will I have time… focus on the fact that people on this website are way ahead of the curve. AND… they are part of a very supportive network.
For what it is worth, even though I have a well and pond… I still worry about water. It is one of my greatest concerns. Just because I have access to this stuff doesn’t mean something can’t go wrong. I am constantly looking at alternative “possibilities.”
Never, ever, think just because you are just starting that you are not part of some elite survivor team. We are all regular folks doing the best we can to protect our families, communities, countries and world. It is overwhelming, but even for a seasoned prepper. Whether it is a hurricane, earthquake, ice storm, or some infectious disease or attack… we all have unknown threats looming on the horizon. Awareness, knowledge and understanding are the greatest tools you can have. Because quite frankly, any of numerous things could wipe out your “stuff.” Best wishes and luck to you and yours! EA
I look at it this way: A small edge is better than no edge when it comes to survival. Even the smallest amount of planning will put one ahead of the pack who will not have done any planning at all and any amount of prepping, even if it’s just having extra cans of soup or a few bottles of water, will buy you time that you wouldn’t have if you did nothing.
EnoughAlready – at 14:57
Very well said — you’re my hero!
Average Concerned Mom – at 09:22 When I lived in Florida, I had a 30 supply of “stuff” for my family, to include toilets, camp stoves and coolers. When I left, I gave it all to my best friend, saying I would never need it where I was going. When I learned about H5N1 and what it’s impact could be, I went in to full suvival mode. Yes I now have a 6 month stock, to include all of the hard items, stoves, toilets, etc, back in my stash. As you have said, when you start with nothing, you do freak out a bit at first, but as you get going, it does get easier.
So to all of the new preppers I say make a plan, and try your best to stick to it. You will get there.
I had the power go out on me about a week ago during a big storm, lightening even took out my VCR with a big snap, and that was the second one. I got out my oil lamps and one needed a new cap on it where the wick comes through glad I had more than one. So I have replaced that one and got some extra and a bunch more wicks. I love these kinds of lights. I grew up doing my homework by oil lamps oh yea and the little house out across the creek for a bathroom, that every time the creek flooded it washed the little house away so watch where you put your outside plumbing. LOLOL. About a mile from me is a little town that has a big park and in that park they have about ten different wells with the old fashioned hand pumps and if I need to make a water run I will go there with my bottles and barrels. I do have my own well and the creek is about half a mile aways too so my options are varried. I can easily go without electric cause I have several battery andn hand crank radio’s and I go months at a time without turning on my TV , I’d rather read or quilt. and since I live alone it’s not hard to do. My honey comes in once a month for three days so it’s perfect. LOLOL.
Somethings already mentioned on this site: Your water heater probably holds 30–40 gal of water as does your bathtub. I’m going to check how much leaks out of the tub as it sits for a while. Those white plastic kitchen garbage can liners will fit snugly over a toliet seat (and maybe some toliet bowls) allowing you to use your inside toliet. Camping recently we cooked on our homemade solar cooker, Coleman propane and a hobo stove I made out of a holiday cookie canister. I also am able to cook with a small homemade backpacking stove that uses alcohol from a hardwarestore’s paint dept. Ken
Back in 93 i went thru the flood and did without running water for a month. Tho there were other states shipping water in that we could stand in line for and I did. Thank you other States!
That wont happen with bird flu tho.
I had two little ones and a parilized husband at the time. I happened to be up late doing some sandbagging a few blocks away when the water broke and headed for the water plant. I came home and took a shower and filled up the tub and everything I had at the time with water. Wasnt much. Called everyone I knew and had them fill their tubs up too.
We did sponge baths and took showers in the rain and collected rain in garbage cans off the spouts. I ruined the carpet in the bathroom after lugging water into flush, it just got to heavy and it spilled all over.
I remember finding frozen lasagana noodles that didnt need water to cook and thought that was just amazing. We lived on a lot of canned and frozen food at the time.
Thankfully we had electricity but I remember standing in the rain collecting water and coming in and put my clothes on the side of the tub to dry before it dawned on me that the dryer still worked. Duh!
After that I thought about washing clothes and filled the bathtub up with water from the rain, ran a hose down the laundry shoot and hooked it up to the washer and I was able to do some laundry. That was a lot of work lugging all that water in. I think today I would divert the water run off from the roof into the window using pvc pipe and use it for flushing and what not.
Ive lived without electictity for weeks, due to tornadoes and Ice storms but I was always able to cook on my gas stove and I had running water because the outages were always just in certian areas. Its gonna &%&# to do without everything at once.
trial run for long term shut down of the norm ? hmmm? !. good luck. heres the thing. food and water, hunting (with primitive weapons and means,,,, snares, deadfalls, ???? ), do most even know the formula for gunpowder ? it’s not hard to make if you have the ingredients . hint→ save your piss and your charcoal and your two thirds there. … . :) gathering, gardening (fighting insects without chemicals ), collecting water, collecting and chopping wood, building and tending fires, self protection (possibly without firearms ) , burying the dead , making cloths, building shelters, waist disposal, hygene without modern means ( no more shaking hands folks,,, one hands for eatin, and ones for clearing the deck,,,,, and all the lefties will be a threat if you know what i mean ;) :) ,,,, medicinal plant knowlege certainly wouldnt hurt. , weather awarness without satilliets ( red skys at night and dark clouds are just the tip of the iceburg ) . all these things are a must. sounds like alot of work dont it !!! it will be !!!!! trading and barter will be essential. i know very few people who even think about such things let alone have any practical expiriance. should the worts ever happen me thinks the general population will plummit. having some native blood in me i embrace my ancestors for all there worth !!!! although humans do evetualy learn what they need to survive,,, history has shown that it usualy only comes after a shitload of people have died stumbleing around showing their worst beforehand. i’ve heard tell that the reason people die in the wilderness and in extreme emergency is because of shame,,,,,, think about it. silly creatures.
For those using candles and lanterns, please don’t forget the fire extinguishers! The fire dept. may be unable to respond in an emergency. Good time to study up on fire prevention and how to put out various types of fires.
spiritaxe at 11:03--
well, you gotta start somewhere!
Average Concerned Mom Sorry no extra points for turning off electricity or water. But I did get to spend several uninterrupted days with DD since she was home with a sinus infection. Silver lining is that I now have a major dose of augmentin in the cupboard since she couldn’t swallow the “horse pills” and I had to run back for a liquid antibiotic!
I paid carefull attention to our household for a week or two and this is what I found:
The Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS)on my computers lasted for 30 minutes with no printer or speakers on. The computer with the router only lasted 18 minutes. There will be no fluwikie at my house when the grid is down.
My little old battery operated radio stinks, bought a crank radio from radio shack. It has AM, FM, SW1 and SW2 and a light (light doesn’t last a long time but is nice to have). Needed the internet to look up weather channel and news channel radio stations.
Washing dishes takes a lot of water. Bought another 300 count paper plates.
Pasta takes too much water to cook, rice is more water efficient. Buy some couscous.
I need to get my butt in gear and fill the aqua tank.
We need to clear out the garage to get one vehicle in to secure the fuel tank for the generators.
I can make my own ginger ale, recipe is on this cheese link: http://tinyurl.com/4ewnw (Thanks to Northstar for the link)
I can raise the temperature in my oven with a candle or two if I need a warm place to let bread rise(in a house with no heat or electricity).Temperature raised from 74 degrees to 102 with one candle. I will have to try this again when the temps get down in the fifties or lower.
After several serious discussions, DH told me to make a to-do list so he’ll know what he’s supposed to do when TSHTF. Looking over the to-do list I realized that I can accomplish most of that now, pre panic.
Silversage — could you post the to-do list? Thx. — Libby
libbyalex – at 10:39
What I did was go over the 24 Hour List from the fluikie’s “What to Prep if you have 24 Hours”.
http://www.fluwikie.com/pmwiki.php?n=Consequences.24HrsList
I wanted to make sure I had all those items covered, and if not put those on my list. i.e I don’t want to store more gas than I need right now, but I can buy the gas cans now to fill up on short notice later.
My WTSHTF to-do list:
1. Take money out of bank in small bills 2–3K
2. Get more propane tanks/batteries AA/C/D/9v
3. Fill gas cans
4. Fill all water containers with fresh water
5. Get kids out of school, bring home school books
7. Go get dog food
8. Move car into garage to secure gas tank
9. Ensure outside valuables are locked and secure
10. Review home security devices
11. Monitor health and vital signs/keep health journal on each member of the family
12. Call other family members in case phones go down later or are overloaded
I’ve also added: charge all rechargables i.e. cells phones, radio, lanterns, gameboys, ipods, all these will add to short term comfort. I won’t stock up on dog food until I feel the time is right, but I’ve stocked up enough human food that I don’t feel it necessary to make a last run to the grocery store.
The most important thing about your list is to make it now, with a cool head. Then see if you can accomplish items sooner rather than later. Assign different family members different tasks. If I buy new gas cans now and keep them in the back of the minivan, DH can fill them up on the way home from work if I give him the signal!! That saves a trip to the store when everyone else will be trying to buy gas cans. I can go get more batteries now, hopefully on sale, then I can cross batteries off my list. My kids can fill the water containers because I’ve already bought hoses made for drinking water.
Hope this helps, my DH likes working off of lists, that way he doesn’t have to read my mind!!
Silver - definitely do as much as possible now vs later. The problem is if TSHTF then everyone else probalby knows about it as well - you may encounter long lines with potentially sick (and potentially panicked) people. Don’t make your list the hard-and-fast rule - it needs to very flexible just in case.
silversage and all,
Regarding storing things in the garage, ours is separate from the house and relies on automatic (electric) door opener to operate the only door. I’m not storing anything in there that I’ll need if the power’s out.
This discussion about garages got me thinking - has everyone checked that there’s a manual way to get the garage door open from inside, and each adult is able to use it? Sometimes they put those little pull things too high for short people to reach.
Mari – at 10:20
I had a single mom friend call me when her garage door spring broke and she didn’t know how to open it. She has two single doors but they’re wood and she’s very small. No way would she be able to open a door to get her car in or out. We lose power all the time and I have been able to get my garage door open but once you pop the latch for the opener the door isn’t locked anymore. Back in the old days, my parents garage door had a handle with a lock on it but not anymore. My garage is attached to the house and if my van is full it’s another 18 gallons of gas, which I had to buy a special siphon for (from Lowes).
LauraB – at 17:12
My first list was much longer, which is stupid really. If I’m prepping now than I should totally commit to it. I made a huge trip to wallyworld, my grocery store, the pharmacy and COSTCO, and made another big order to honeville grain. Hopefully within a month my to-do list will only be what to do around the house, like scrub out the rainbarrels, make sure the gutters are clean, check the water in the aqua tank… that kind of stuff. We’ve been trying new recipes using dried/dehydrated/powdered foods. Today I’m off to the nursery to check for plants from my “Herbal Remedies for Dummies” book!!
I have to say it was an eye opener making the WTSHTF TO-DO LIST. Makes you really look at what you’ve stocked and how you’re going to use it.
silversage, I’m going to give you a bucketload of points! (-: You get all mine as well because after having started this thread, I have done not one thing for emergency preparedness much less prepping for when TSHTF. (Having major family problems with that at the moment.) So glad you are working on it!
Thanks, Silversage. It really helps a lot. Think I’ll fill the 20 lb propane tanks now, rather than later!
I created a punch-list of last minute to-do’s, and then laminated it.
One resides in every family vehicle, along with the rally points if it’s a non-pandemic disaster and we’re separated, and some communications information.
These all reside up under the passenger seat of each family vehicle.
Get as much done on your list NOW, instead of LATER.
Bird Guano – at 12:26
I really, really like the idea of a laminated list in each vehicle. Everyone will know exactly what to do even in communications gets overwhelmed.
I’ve added to our gas storage now that gas has started to come down. Next will be a few more propane tanks.
Average Concerned Mom
Had a chance to do any test runs?
Mari – at 10:20 Use your ladder, You do own a ladder right??? Next with the power out and the car in, use your ladder to push the slide that is attached to the little rope back into place, you will here a click when it catchs, Garage is now locked again.
Mari, while you’re up on that ladder, tie a longer piece of rope onto that release so you won’t have to keep dragging the ladder out. Or, just make life simple and do it now, before emergency.
silversage – at 10:46 No way would she be able to open a door to get her car in or out.
You’re supposed to put your CAR in the garage?
Bird Guano, Any chance you’d be willing to post the non-family specific items on your laminated lists to the thread? I think you are one of the the most organized preppers around, and I know I and others would likely benefit from seeing it.
Edna Mode – at 08:06
LOL “You’re supposed to put your CAR in the garage? “
I do have friends who have cars in their garages. I know it’s possible. For me, it’s a goal: part of the prepping package to keep DH happy!! We have so many before school activities this year I really need to get that car in before the snow flies.
If you have a garage with windows set in it. A thief will break the window, reach in and pull the release rope, and quickly be in your garage. Then he/she can work on your inner door unobserved, that is if you’ve locked it.
If you have a windowed garage cut the rope. Besides, unless I’m bugging out, or the pandemic is over, I’m not going anywhere.
“You’re supposed to put your CAR in the garage?” sigh
Here is it, on the “Over-due To-Do List” (1 item among many:)
Get offline and get clearing the garage, so car can go in (time for that annual event anyway.)
Sigh. I can reach the pull in my garage with no problem, but brought it up in case others might have problems, such as children being able to reach it if necessary. And I do have several ladders (and it’s time for the annual “drain the swamp cooler” trip up to the roof). Another sigh.
Silversage
I can raise the temperature in my oven with a candle or two if I need a warm place to let bread rise.
What a great solution to a problem I’ve had every winter. I feel so dumb that I never thought of it. We keep our heat set at 62 and it’s real hard to find a warm place to set the dough. Not this year though-thanks to your ingenuity!!!
I am constantly amazed and tickled with all the simple things I learn on the Wiki that I can’t believe I never thought of. My one comfort when TSHTF will be if we still have internet and the Wiki is still up. I’ll just log in and leave it there. It seems that no matter the question of situation- someone here has an answer or experience and a way to deal. Everything I will ever want to know to get by will be on it. But just in case- for my newest flu-prep excersize- I’m going to start printing the important info.
Here is the list I made a long time ago. I want to add the items from the other lists on the preparedness pages here but there are just not enough hours in the day. THere is a To Do List, Shopping List, Patient Usage Calculator (unfinished and depressing because there is no way to stock enough masks and gloves), a list of Flu Treatments (no guarantees), annual Food Calculator (enter number of people at the bottom of the sheet), Chlorine Bleach Solutions, and Disinfection of Water (poorly formatted). http://home.san.rr.com/earlybird/Emergency%20Kit.xls
If anyone wants to improve upon it and post the results just let me know. info@pandemicreferenceguides.com
It should also be updated with the Preps You Might Forget ideas. This way we all have one good list instead of a hundred incomplete ones.
I forgot to link to the list of important info to print. I hope it saves you time surfing and collecting links. Most of the info is also posted here on the FluWiki. http://www.pandemicreferenceguides.com/infopages/printsummary.html
There is a lot of useful things you might want to print on the other pages too. YOu can also download the whole website (500mb) from the main page. It will run on a cd with no internet access.
I hope to convince my wife to try a test weekend. Of course she says there is no pandemic coming. Ugh.
Mari – at 12:38 Problem with kids is once they learn something, they want to use it for any old thing. I Have been working on my 15 year old grandson, trying to teach him splitting wood, planting vegetables, dealing with the water and ugh how to use the fire arms. (He would be the oldest male if something happened to me) Daughters are on board with the fire arms though, as I taught them when they were the same age, but as I try to remind them girls are more level headed then boys at that age. (don’t flame me for this ladies if you have teenage sons and daughters you know I speak the truth), I did not teach my own sons until they were 18 and I was concerned even then.
fredness – at 19:08 Of course she says there is no pandemic coming. Ugh.
So she visits the pyramids on Da Nile???
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